Tale of Two Hedgehogs
by sonicking2004
Summary: What happened to Sonic and Sally after they used the Deep Power Stones to thwart Robotnik's plans to use the Doomsday Machine to conquer Mobius? What exactly was the plans that Snively had set in motion after his uncle's disappearance? And just will happen when a certain blue hero makes a wrong turn on the road to restoring his own world, and winds up crossing their paths?
1. 1) Strange, Yet Familiar

**Strange, Yet Familiar**

As Sonic's head finally stopped spinning, his heart still aching from the decision he had to make, Sonic stood up to look around at his surroundings. The truth was that he didn't want to use the Chaos Control abilities of his Super Sonic form to reset that world that was created when Dr. Robotnik had interfered with his and Ultra Megaman's using their abilities to restore their own worlds.

Sonic had wanted to find a way to save this new world! After all, he had Sally back, and she was not roboticized! Uncle Chuck was once again working in the field and not shuttered away & having to work as part of the ruling council for that usurper Ixas Naugus! Antoine was no longer lying in a coma, and even though Bunnie was once again part robot, Sonic could tell that she had gratefully accepted the tradeoff for having her husband whole and healthy once more. Sonic could even accept the strange change that had befallen his once beloved pet Muttski.

He wanted to save them all, But Robotnik's argument was too strong: That Mobius, which should have never been, was dying, and unless Sonic used Chaos Control to return them all to their original world they'd all die with it! Besides, Amy, Cream and some of the others were still missing, and Sonic couldn't just abandon them, so he relented and did as Robotnik suggested.

Even though Robotnik had promised that he wouldn't interfere this time, reasoning that he wanted a planet that he could rule, not one that was dying, as he'd tried to use Chaos Control Sonic had felt a strange lurching sensation that tore him away from Tails and the others. As Sonic's vision cleared, he saw that he was in a forest, very much like the Knothole of his original world had been in before it was destroyed. Had he succeeded then, or had the energies of that dying world (or perhaps Dr. Robotnik's unseen interference) thrown his efforts off again?

"There you are!" the voice of Sally Acorn said from behind him, "What have you been doing here, taking a chilidog-induced nap?"

As Sonic spun around in surprise, he saw that it was, in fact, his beloved Sally behind him, and as the sound of her voice had indicated, she was not roboticized! He didn't know how she had managed to sneak up behind him when she wasn't there just a second ago, but right now he didn't care. Before she could say anything else, Sonic had her wrapped up in a powerful hug, tears streaming down his face.

"Sonic?" Sally asked him, amusement and concern equally coloring her voice, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong anymore," Sonic replied was he pulled away from her to wipe the tears from eyes from his sudden outburst, "I'm just glad to see that you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay," Sally said with fond affection, "You must have had a doozy of a nightmare!"

"Something like that," Sonic sighed, "Still, I'll be glad if it's over now. Say, you didn't happen to spot Robotnik on the way here, had you? I lost track of him during the Chaos…"

"Robotnik?" Sally interrupted in surprise, "Did you seriously hit your head, or are you suffering from a chilidog-fog? Robotnik's been gone for a year now, as you should know since we got rid of him together. It's Snively that has been giving us problems since then with his frequent attacks."

Sonic was feeling seriously confused now. Robotnik gone? Snively in charge? Sonic might have believed he'd somehow gone back in time if it weren't for Sally's comment about having "got rid of him together." As Sally had been in a coma at the time of the original Robotnik's defeat, that ruled the possibility of time travel out.

"You know, you do look different, somehow," Sally continued, "Hope you didn't starve yourself to look like that, although I'm jealous that you can slim down that quickly. Anyway, we should get back to Knothole to discuss Snively's latest attack. I'll race you: winner chooses the dinner to treat the loser to!"

"Wait! Did you just say…" Sonic started to ask just as Sally races off at super-speed. His jaw dropping in shock, Sonic finishes, "…race? Just what is going on around here?"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Robotropolis, Dr. Eggman gets unsteadily to his feet as he holds his head and mutters, "That's the last time I let the hedgehog drive!"

"But sir," Orbot interjected, "you were the one who said that your interference before was what resulted in the rebooted Mobius self-destructing."

"Quiet you!" Eggman yelled at his faithful robotic servant, "I have half a mind to use you for parts to rebuild the Egg Mobile!"

"Mon Dieu!" Cubot exclaimed as his attention was focus in away from Eggman's and Orbot's argument, "Are we where I think we are?"

Dr. Eggman, at first annoyed at Cubot's interrupting his rant, finds himself gasping in astonishment and falling to his knees as his eyes start watering up. "Can it be?" Eggman asks in disbelief, "Could that hedgehog have done something right for a change? It's Robotropolis! I'd recognize that polluted skyline anywhere! And it's completely undamaged! No radioactive fallout, no force-field! This is better than anything I could have dreamed of!"

As he speaks, a company of SWATbots heads towards them. As he notices them, Eggman says, "And are those SWATbots? I haven't seen one of those in ages! They may not be Egg Pawns or Dark Egg Legionnaires, but they're a welcome sight all the same!"

The smile vanishes off his face as they SWATbots aim the laser cannons at him and one says, "Organic life-form, surrender for roboticization!"

"What!?" Eggman exclaimed in outrage, "You DARE talk to your master this way? It's me: Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"

After a brief pause, the SWATbot who'd spoken said in response, "Biometrics scan match: negative. Voiceprint match: negative. Thermogenic signature match: negative. Conclusion: organic life-form's claim of bring former master Ivo Robotnik are false. Records showing former master's deceased status is sustained. Current master Snively's orders are sustained: capture all organic life-forms for roboticization."

The news that he was supposed to be dead in this world surprised Eggman, but he did not let it show. Instead, he commanded, "Then take me to your master, I'll clear up all of this with him personally!"

After calculating for a moment, the SWATbot said, "Request does not conflict with standing orders, organic life-form will be taken to master Snively prior to roboticization."

After signaling to Orbot and Cubot to follow, Eggman allowed the squad of SWATbots to lead him to the egg shaped building he recognized as having once been his own headquarters.

* * *

As Sally reached the secret entrance to Knothole Village, she thought about how moving this fast has become second nature to her now. Since she and Sonic had absorbed the power from the Deep Power Stones, she had shown no signs of slowing down, nor any indications that the power was causing any harm to her body as Dr. Charles had feared it would.

She was surprised that Sonic hadn't yet caught up, as that same power had made him faster too, but maybe he was being nice and giving her a head start. That was his mistake, though, as she had won this contest, and now she was determined to make him eat something healthy. Sonic was seriously starting to worry her by his reactions and his talk about the long-gone Robotnik.

When she reached the bottom of the slide, Sally was startled to see that Sonic was already here, chowing down on a huge pile of chilidogs and looking more like his usual self. "Sonic?" Sally said in confusion, "When did you pass me? I thought…you were…"

Sonic, looking up from his meal, smiled as he said, "Oh, hey Sal! What's up?"

Sally, sighing in resignation, smiled as she said, "Okay, okay. I guess you win, and a deal's a deal, so I guess you get to treat me to your choice of dinner. I'm guessing it'll be chilidogs again."

Sonic, scratching his head in confusion, said, "Uh Sal, I'm as fond of a chilidog dinner date as much as anything, but what are you talking about?"

Sally, looking at him askance, approached and said with a smile, "Come on, Sonic, you're not going to make me say it, are you?" When Sonic continued to look at her appearing confused, Sally continued, "Out in the Great Forest, I challenged you to a race, betting that the winner would choose what dinner they would treat the loser to."

Sonic, still confused, looked at Sally with concern as he said, "Sal, I didn't meet you in the Great Forest. I've been here most of the day downing this monster pile of dogs!"

As Sally's sense of unease grew in response to what Sonic had just said, she heard from the tree slide behind her a voice (which she recognized as also being Sonic's) as it called out, "Hey Sally! I can't believe I'm saying this, but slow down for a minute, will ya?"

As she spun around, she saw the Sonic she'd met earlier in the Great forest emerge from the slide. Looking back and forth between them, she thought to herself, _Two Sonics? That's impossible! _ The other Sonic also looked rather confused himself as he looked at his double, then his confusion cleared as he said, "I get it now: Eggman must have gotten back before me somehow and set all this up as a trap! Well I've had enough of his antics! First, I'm taking care of you, you fake! Then I'm going to figure out whether 'Sally' is an infiltrator unit or her roboticized self in disguise and will deal with her accordingly. Then I'm going to tear this place apart, find where Eggman is hiding, and teach him a lesson that he won't soon forget!" Then he charged at them.

* * *

As the SWATbots led Eggman into the control room, Snively spun around in the chair to face them as he said, "Well, well, what do we have here? An overlander? That's a rare sight in these parts!"

"So it _is_ true, you _did_ take command from me, you double-crossing little traitor!" Eggman growled.

Snively looked at Eggman in suspicion as he said, "What are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life!"

_Perhaps he really doesn't recognize me,_ Eggman reasoned,_ Maybe in this world, Ivo Robotnik looked much like the one whom I replaced in Sonic's world. _ Aloud, he said, "You may not recognize me, but my name is Ivo Robotnik, and that's my chair you're sitting in!"

Snively laughed as he said, "You're Robotnik? That's a good one! I don't think that anyone's ever tried that one on me before!"

Eggman glowered at the little man who so resembled his nephew as he said, "I don't expect you to take me at my word, given how my appearance may differ from the Robotnik you knew, but I doubt that you'll still be laughing once I do this:" Then, in a loud, clear voice, he called out, "Voice command: reboot and recalibrate! Authorization code: Omega, Bravo, Alpha, Yolo, Indigo, Vector, Omega!"

The electronic voice of the control room's computer acknowledged, "Command code recognized, recalibrating biogenic profile. Welcome back, Ivo Robotnik."

"What?" Snively yelped in astonishment, "But how?"

"I already told you, you little turncoat!" Eggman growled, "I am the master of this place, and I know it far better than you ever will! Now…"

Snively leapt out of the chair and begins dusting it off as he said, "Here you go, sir! I was just keeping it warm for you!"

Knocking Snively out of the way, Eggman said disdainfully, "Out of my way, you sniveling little coward! How the Mobians hadn't managed to take control of this place while you were in charge strikes me as something of a small miracle. I'll think of an appropriate punishment for you later! For now, I want you to tell me everything that you know about what happened to the Robotnik that ruled here before, and what's been going on here since then. Afterwards, we're going to give those Freedom Fighters the biggest surprise of their lives!"

End of chapter


	2. 2) Shocking Revelations

**Shocking Revelations**

If you were to ask him, and if he were in any mood to actually answer, Sonic might admit that he wasn't actually thinking with his head at that moment. Of course, it was not that he did much of that anyways, It was always Sally that came up with the plans that Sonic made happen. When he was on his own, he usually just flew by the seat of his pants and trusted that his speed (and that he'd gotten Eggman mad enough to not plan an effective counter assault) to get him through.

No, Sonic wasn't thinking with his head right now as he launched into his assault. His heart was leading the way right now, and that was currently so broken that even his Uncle Chuck might not be smart enough to be able to put it together again. It seemed that it was only a second ago that he'd been reunited with Sally in that strange world that was created when Eggman interfered with Sonic's using Chaos Control to reverse the effects of Eggman's Genesis Wave and unlink his world from Mega Man's, and while he never did figure out what happened to Amy Rose and some of his other friends, he had been able to restore the fractured memories of Tails, Antoine (who wasn't in a coma), Bunnie (who was a rabbot again), and most importantly Sally (who was no longer roboticized). For one brief moment, everything was perfect.

Then Sonic had to do something stupid (even for him) and actually listen to Eggman's doomsday prediction, that the world they were in was actually going to destroy itself due to the conflicting energies within it. Eggman advised him that the only way to save his friends in time was to unmake that world using Chaos Control and to restore the world that they came from. Sonic hated to do it, since he knew what awaited him there (and who didn't), but even Sally had no better ideas, and the increasing quakes were unable to be ignored, so Sonic agreed to Eggman's plan so long as Eggman didn't interfere. Surprisingly, he agreed.

When Sonic began, he could tell that something went wrong. Whether it was due to the Chaos tearing the world apart, or if it was due to some last minute (and not unexpected) double-cross by Eggman, Sonic wasn't sure at the time. However, one impossibly fast and not-roboticized Sally and one Sonic imposter later, Sonic was sure of which explanation it was. As Sonic tore into the fake Sonic in front of him, what he was seeing wasn't blue but red. He was going to rid the world of this illusion of a world he lost, then he was going to figure whether "Sally" was a life-model decoy or her roboticized self made to look as if she was normal and act appropriately. Then, last but certainly not least on his list was Eggman! Nothing was going to stop Sonic from getting to him, and when he did…!

Now Sonic was not expecting his double to be faster than him, not even Metal Sonic had managed that! In fact, "Sonic" reminded him of himself whenever he was Super, though this guy did not look like that was the case. Still, Sonic was confident that this fake did not have his moves, and he was rewarded appropriately when he managed to trip the guy with a sweep when he swung back in for a counter-strike. Then Sonic followed it up with a Spin Dash, then led into a Figure 8 Dash accompanied by super-speed haymakers. Despite his looking very much like him, it looked like Sonic was going to be able to take care of his double without any problems.

Of course, Sonic had forgotten that "Sonic" wasn't alone, and so was blindsided when "Sally" leapt to his defense. As she attacked, Sonic remembered how Sally was always able to hold her own the times that they'd sparred, with Sonic's speed the only thing that gave him any edge. That was the only reason that he trusted that she'd be able to take care of herself the times she had to go solo for her part to succeed, including the one time he should've been there to save her. Now that this "Sally" not only had her moves but also speed that was greater than his own, Sonic didn't see how he had any chance of winning here. Still, Sonic would not give up; he could not, would not let Eggman win!

As she tripped him up in a sweep, that was achingly like the one that his Sally herself taught him, she caught Sonic in a half-nelson as she asked his double, "Sonic, are you all right?" The fake answered, "Yeah, Sal, I'm fine," the same time that Sonic responded, "Like you care, robot!"

"Quiet!" 'Sally' said to him as she turned back to his double and said, "Go get Uncle Chuck. We need to find out for what reason Snively had created this 'Sonic', if he's learned the location of Knothole, and whether we need to begin evacuation procedures."

"Snively? Good one!" Sonic said snidely, trying to twist his head around to look at her, "Though I must say that it seems Eggman broke the bank in his work on the two of you, as well as on this Knothole recreation."

As 'Sally' shoved his face back in the dirt, 'Sonic' asked her, "Will you be able to handle this guy by yourself while I'm gone, Sal?"

As she waved him off dismissively, she smiled and said, "Pfft! Need I remind you of which one of us actually brought him down? Just get going, Sonic, I'll be fine!"

As 'Sonic' smiled his crooked smile, and Sonic couldn't believe that his smile actually looked like that, the fake kissed 'Sally' on the cheek as he said, "Okay, okay, I know better than to argue with you at a time like this. Just be careful, okay? This bot doesn't seem to have all his bolts that tight."

"Sure," 'Sally said as she smiled back at the fake, "Get back here quickly, luv!"

"Don't know of any other way, Sal dear!" 'Sonic' replied as he raced off.

Sonic felt another explosion of rage as he watched the exchange between them. It was bad enough that Eggman's trap reminded him of who and what he'd lost through his mechanisms and plots, but for him to have these two bots act out the relationship that he'd shared with Sal before she'd been roboticized…

Sonic tried to use a Spin Dash to break free from under her, but once again he'd underestimated "Sally's" speed and skill. Before he got a chance to break her grip, she once again had him pinned, this time holding him in a full-nelson. "Give it up," 'Sally' told him, "you're not getting away, and whatever plot Snively's hatching will fail, just like all his others!"

"Snively, ha!" Sonic laughed snidely, "He couldn't plot his way out of a paper bag! And Eggman will regret whatever brain fart that led him to create you two for whatever ridiculous plan he's cooked up."

"There you go again with your comments about Robotnik still being around!" 'Sally said in disbelief, "I don't know if Snively believes that he can scare us with Robotnik's ghost, or if he's simply having an absentee-father moment or what, but the fact that Robotnik's never coming back is the best, and perhaps the only, good part of this situation!"

The more that 'Sally' said, the less she made to Sonic! While he's seen some real screwy plans enacted by Eggman, Sonic couldn't believe that he'd try to convince him that he vanished into thin air and that now Snively was in charge. For one, Eggman had too much of an ego, and he would not trust Snively to run things since he'd last betrayed him by siding with the Iron Empire. Secondly, they'd never fall for such an obvious trick. The closest time that had ever happened was back when Eggman had posed as their own Robotnik some time after he'd been consumed by his own Ultimate Annihilator.

"You can keep saying 'Robotnik is gone' until you're blue in the face, if that's even possible for you bots, but as much as I wish that remained the case, we all know that Robo-Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman as he likes to call himself now, took our Robotnik's place after his last plan blew up in his face in a big way! You're not going to convince anyone with such a weak deception!"

" 'Robo-Robotnik'?" 'Sally' asked in confusion. Before she could decide whether she should continue restraining this creation of Snively's or just dismantle him and hope that Uncle Chuck can find out something from his data banks, 'Sonic' returned with Uncle Chuck in his arms and Tails following right behind. Sonic's eyes widened briefly at the sight of his uncle, who was apparently roboticized, but then he closed his eyes and scoffed, "Apparently Eggman actually did break the bank with you guys. I'll give you guys props for your 'Tails', but it looks like he couldn't even bother to give 'Uncle Chuck' a convincing skin."

"Wow, Sonic," 'Tails' said as he landed and cautiously approached to take a closer look, "it looks just like you!"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'just like'," 'Sonic' corrected somewhat grumpily.

"You're right," 'Sally' said teasingly, "This guy has less of a belly."

As 'Tails' chuckles, 'Uncle Chuck' pulls a device from the backpack he just removed from his back as he says, "Well, this device should tell us something about our interesting visitor."

Sonic sighs in exasperation as 'Uncle Chuck' activates his device and a laser light scans him from head to toe. Looking at the display, 'Chuck' frowns in confusion as he says, "Hmm."

"So what kind of bot is he?" 'Tails' asks.

"This is odd," 'Uncle Chuck' says, "According to these readings, he's not a robot at all. He's 100% organic."

"Are you sure you were not getting your readings from me instead?" 'Sally' asks, still restraining Sonic.

"No, I have your readings in here too, but this guy is registering as being just as much of a Mobian as you," 'Uncle Chuck' answers her, then he turns towards 'Sonic' and continues, "If it weren't for some odd readings, I would even swear that he was you."

"You don't think that ol' Snively is trying his hand with cloning, do you Unc'?" 'Sonic' asks him.

"Doubtful," 'Chuck' answers him, "For one, even clones have a mind of their own and are less controllable than robots are, no matter what information you program them to know. A clone can rebel, a robot cannot."

"Oh, I don't know about that….depends on how sophisticated the robot is, I suppose," Sonic said snarkily from his position on the ground, "E.V.E. and the first Metal Sonic, a.k.a. Shard, seem to come to mind, although I suppose you guys haven't been programmed with knowledge of them."

'Uncle Chuck' looks up at 'Sally' and asks in confusion, "What is he talking about?"

"It seems that this Sonic believes that we are robots of some sort, Uncle Chuck," 'Sally' explained to him, still not releasing Sonic, "created by Robotnik for some sort of trap."

"Robotnik is back?" 'Uncle Chuck says uneasily.

"Well, to put it the way this guy said it just a second ago," 'Sally' corrected, "it's more like a Robotnik from another world, who now calls himself Dr. Eggman."

" 'Another world'," 'Chuck' said thoughtfully, "That would make sense of some of these readings I'm getting from that Sonic there. There are contaminants in his system that I've never seen before. There are even things that do not have a place in our periodic table, as if he's been to another planet or something."

"Several, in fact," Sonic clarified, unconsciously starting to let his guard down and relax, "although not exactly by choice. So that's going to be your explanation, 'Unc'? That somehow I've been transported to another Zone's version of Mobius? And I guess that this is where Zonic shows up and tells me that you're right?"

"Who's Zonic?" 'Uncle Chuck' asked.

"He's a Sonic from another Zone that's 90 degrees from all other Zones, and he sort of works as a cop to prevent people from entering other Zones except when needed under extreme situations," Sonic explained. "But I wasn't trying to enter another Zone, I was just using Chaos Control to try and restore my Mobius to the way it was before Eggman had altered it with….the…"

As Sonic explained, he recalled how that other Mobius had been on the verge of tearing itself apart when he used Chaos Control. He'd initially blamed Eggman for the lurching sensation he felt while he was trying to restore his own Mobius, but if the Chaos energies from the other Mobius' demise had pushed him off course into another Zone while the Chaos Control wore off…

"Is it possible" Sonic said, not wanting to let himself believe, "Had I actually ended up in another Zone?"

"That seems to be the most likely explanation, sonny boy," Chuck answered, whom Sonic decided wasn't some fake, but rather this Zone's version of his uncle who hadn't been deroboticized here.

"And you," Sonic said to Sally, "You're not my Sally wearing some skin to look normal, or some robot fake. You're really his Sally, aren't you?"

"So it would seem," Sally replied gently.

"So then, now that we've gotten that straightened out….would you mind letting me go?" Sonic asked, "I'm getting severe neck cramps here."

"Huh? Oh, sure. Sorry." Sally said as she released Sonic from her submission hold.

"Thanks!" Sonic told her as he stood again and stretched, then he turned towards the other Sonic and said, "Sorry about jumping to conclusions and going off on you, dude. That wasn't cool."

"Ah, nothing that a good ol' chili dog can't cure!" the other Sonic responded, "I gotta say, though, those were some sweet moves you used on me!"

"Thanks, most of my best moves I learned from my Sally," Sonic answered with a small smile, then continued as he gestured to Sally, "You ought to ask your Sally to teach you sometime. I know that we don't usually have the patience for that sort of thing, but trust me when I say that it's worth it, and it'll probably be one of your fondest memories."

"Thanks! I'll consider it," The other Sonic replied, then continued with a hint of concern, "Dude, you okay? You said you thought that my Sally was yours wearing a skin to look normal, did something happen to her?"

"Eggman happened," Sonic said with steel in his eyes, "He had launched his Death Egg and was preparing to use his Planetary Roboticizer on the whole planet."

Sally gasped as she asked Uncle Chuck, "A Planetary Roboticizer? Is that possible?"

Uncle Chuck looked troubled as he said, "In theory, yes. But such a thing would take incredible power!"

"Believe me, Unc', he had the power," Sonic interjected, "We were running out of time before he fired it too, so as usual I did the fighting while she pulled off the brilliant plans. I guess Eggman must have blocked most of her moves, which only left her the option of changing the targeting location to her own."

Sonic almost hadn't noticed that a large crowd had gathered from the surrounding huts until that moment, when they let out a collective gasp as they saw where his story was going. Some of them even had tears starting to fill their eyes, Bunnie's in particular was threatening to overflow.

Sonic almost felt too choked up to continue, but then NICOLE spoke up from her position on Sonic's almost-unseen belt, kindly offering, "If you are not feeling up to continuing, Sonic, I can take the story from here. I was there, after all."

As Sonic unclips her from his belt, several people are heard murmuring things such as "Is that NICOLE?", but such talk is quickly silenced as they gasp again when Sonic opens the hand-held unit and says to her miniature holographic form projecting from the screen, "Thanks NICOLE, but I need to face this if I hope to have any chance of restoring Sally when we should get back home."

"NICOLE?" Sally asked as she looked in wonder at the beautiful holographic image projecting from the device in Sonic's hand, "Is that you?"

"Hello, Sally," NICOLE said as she turned to smile sadly at the princess, "It's good to see you again, even if you are not the Sally whom I considered my best friend."

"Interesting function," the other Nichole said from the pouch on Sally's belt, "What function does your holographic avatar serve?"

"Function?" the NICOLE in Sonic's hand replied, "There's no specific function for my avatar. After an accident caused me and Sally to briefly swap bodies, I wanted to be able to experience more of life as a Mobian, so I created this form for myself. I can make it full size, but it drains my batteries in my handheld unit too quickly, so I refrain from doing so outside of New Mobotropolis."

"Swapping bodies, huh?" Bunnie said with interest, "Sounds like a story and a half, sugah."

"I agree, maybe she can tell you about it later," Sonic interrupted gently, "So Sally had positioned herself by the main unit of the Death Egg's World Roboticizer, then she changed the targeting coordinates to her own location. As you guys may or not be aware, anything mechanical that is affected by a roboticizer instead explodes, which is what she must have been after all along. When the World Roboticizer activated, it wound up destroying itself instead, and caused extensive damage to the Death Egg as well. The only one who wound up being roboticized by Eggman's device was Sally herself."

"Oh, sugah-hog!" Bunnie said as she wiped a tear from her eye, "Such a terribly sad story!"

"I must agree," Antoine said as he cleared his throat to try and cover up the fact that he's been about to cry as well, "Zis Eggman, 'e zounds nearly as tereeble as our not-zo-dearly departed Robotnik!"

"He is, perhaps even more so," Sonic said in response, "Before he decided to plague our world with his presence, Eggman had managed to completely wipe out the Freedom Fighters of his own world."

This revelation shocks everyone into silence.

* * *

Over in Robotropolis, Snively is going over a progress report to Eggman.

"The construction on the plans that you've given me is proceeding nicely. I estimate that we'll be able to launch within a couple of hours," Snively announces.

"Hmm," Eggman replies as he presses his fingertips together thoughtfully, "Very good, Snively."

"I must say, sir, that these designs are rather brilliant. Perhaps even more so than those the belated Robotnik had ever come up with," Snively complimented him, "However, according to my calculations, the primary weapon system would take an immense amount of power to operate. Even if all the power from the primary generator was diverted to the weapon, in which case the vessel you've designed would crash, it would still not be enough to operate it."

"I'm well aware of that, Snively," Eggman said imperiously, "That is why the weapon's power matrix is completely independent from the rest of the ship's. It'll draw it's energies from the secondary chamber, which I trust has been built according to my specifications?"

"It has, sir," Snively affirmed, "But I still don't know the power source is that's supposed to go in there."

"All in due time, Snively," Eggman said smiling.

Snively turned away as he muttered, "You're just as much a fool as the old Robotnik was, Eggman!"

"What. Was that, Snively!?" Eggman barked.

Snively turned back and said fearfully, "I said that you're even more ruthless than the old Robotnik was, sir!"

"And don't you forget it, Snively!" Eggman said as he moved over to a console on one side of the room, "I assume that this is the manual control for your surveillance orbs?"

"It is, sir," Snively answered as he tried to take a seat at the station, "If you give me the coordinates, I can…"

"Back away, Snively!" Eggman said as he knocked Snively out of the chair and sat down himself, "I prefer to do this myself. Your Robotnik may have made the mistake of trusting you, but I know what a duplicitous wretch you can be. You just make sure that the ship's construction remains on schedule, and leave the finding of Knothole to me!"

As he goes out the door, Snively mutters, "You don't give me enough credit, sir!"

After the door closed, Orbot says to Eggman, "It's so hard to find good help these days!"

"Too true, Orbot, but he does serve a purpose. Besides being an excellent gofer, the information he'd provided on how his Robotnik met his end, as well as the fact that he didn't seem to recognize me, suggests that this may be the Mobius of another Zone, rather than it being our own reset by that Hedgehog's Chaos Control." Eggman said as he entered the coordinates of where he remembered he'd firebombed Knothole village out of existence in the world he was in before his second Genesis Wave, as well as the probable locations for the Floating Island, then he executed the search as he continued, "Now we'll confirm whether that theory is true, and see how close this world is to our old one."

* * *

Back at Knothole, Tails finally is able to give voice to the horror that the rest of them is feeling. "All of them?" Tails asks the visiting Sonic, "Even Sonic?"

"I'm afraid so, Tails," Sonic answers, "At first Cyborg Sonic is the only member of the Cyborg Freedom Fighters who survived Robo-Robotnik, as Eggman was known back then. However, after Cyborg Sonic teamed up with myself and a bunch of other Sonics to take him down, Eggman went back to his own Zone and nuked the remaining resistance into oblivion, including Cyborg Sonic."

"And you've been fighting this guy since then?" Bunnie asked.

"Well, my time's been kinda divided between him and Ixas Naugus, then there's been a few odd badniks here and there, but yeah, I've made it a point to be a thorn in Eggman's side, especially since Sally…" Sonic trailed off.

As Sally patted Sonic's back, Rotor said, "At least you can relax here a bit before you go back to your own world."

"Actually, I think I should find where Eggman had ended up and drag him back home before he does any damage here in your world," Sonic countered.

This causes Antoine to shriek in terror before he asks in a trembling voice, "You mean that this tereeble Eggieman had come here as well?"

"I cannot be sure, but since he was standing rather close when I used Chaos Control, it is possible that he may have been pulled into this Zone along with me." Sonic answered as gently as possible.

As Antoine starts muttering fearfully in a broken combination of French and English and Bunnie tries comforting him, a surveillance orb appears unseen from the canopy of a nearby tree and focuses on the group below as Uncle Chuck asks, "I've heard you mention this 'Chaos Control' a number of time before, Sonic. What exactly is it?"

"It's this special technique that I can perform when I power up and change into Super Sonic, it allows me to warp time and space," Sonic explained.

"Wow, Sonic, that sounds way past cool!" Tails said excitedly.

"I agree, Tails! Way past!" the other Sonic agreed.

"It is," the first Sonic confirmed, "Of course there's a good number of Chaos powers I can use as Super Sonic as well, but I generally prefer not to as I feel that's cheating: the enhanced speed and strength, power of flight and nigh-invulnerability is most often more than enough to deal with whatever menace forced me to go Super in the first place."

"Fascinating," Rotor said, then he asked, "And how does this transformation work?"

"Well, Either I can draw the power from seven Chaos Emeralds or from the Master Emerald on Knuckles' floating homeland of Angel Island," Sonic explained.

Everyone stared at him in confusion for a moment before Bunnie asked, "Uh, sugah-hog, who is this Knuckles fella?"

"You're kidding, right?" Sonic asked, then when nobody admitted that they were joking he continued, "Red fur, bad temper, big spikes on his knuckles?" When there was no sign of recognition on anyone's faces, Sonic exclaimed, "Come on, guys! He protects this enormous and powerful emerald on his island floating in the sky!"

"Well, we did find a floating island once, but there wasn't anyone like that there," Dulcy said.

"Yeah, besides a couple of gargoyles that came to life and attacked as part of a test, the only person who was there was this gigantic owl who called himself the Keeper of the Time Stones," the other Sonic continued.

"And there was no giant emerald there," Sally finished, "Just the Time Stones."

"And…" Sonic attempted to swallow his shock then began again, "…And the Chaos Emeralds?"

"I'm afraid that we have never even heard of something like that," Uncle Chuck explained, "The most powerful source of energy we've ever found was the Deep Power Stones, but those disappeared once Sonic and Sally used their power to destroy Robotnik's Doomsday Project."

Sonic sat down on the log behind him in shock, which prompts Sally to place her hand on his shoulder and ask, "Sonic, are you all right?"

"I really don't know, Sal," Sonic admitted, "It's strange enough for Knuckles to be here, but without the Chaos Emeralds I have no idea how I'm ever going to get home!"

* * *

Back in Robotropolis, Eggman was livid. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. First, he was unable to locate Angel Island and the Master Emerald it protects. Then he was able to locate Knothole Village, and not only was it still intact, not only was it protected by its own Sonic (which confirmed his theory of this being a different Zone entirely), but his Sonic was telling them everything! But then, as if they happened to know that he was listening then, they dropped the biggest bomb at that moment.

"What!?" Eggman exploded at the viewing monitor, Orbot and Cubot cringing away from him.

"Problem, sir?" Snively said as he entered, trying to hide a smirk.

"Snively!" Eggman yelled as he rounded on him in his fury, "Why did you not tell me that there's no Chaos Emeralds here!?"

Cringing away from Eggman, Snively whimpered, "I have no idea what you're talking about, sir!"

"The Chaos Emeralds!" Eggman spat in his face, "The most powerful energy source in creation! I needed them to power my new World Roboticizer!"

"But sir, you've never told me what the power source of your weapon was, and I've never heard of these Chaos Emeralds before!" Snively quailed, "The most powerful source of energy I know of was the Deep Power Stones, then there's Sonic's Power Rings…"

"Well boss, it looks like another one of your brilliant plans has fallen apart as a result of your hasty actions!" Orbot said jabbingly, but Eggman was too deep in thought to pay attention.

"That last part," Eggman said thoughtfully, "Tell me about these 'Deep Power Stones'."

"Robotnik thought to use them to power his Doomsday Project, but Sonic tricked him into thinking he'd destroyed them," Snively explained with a tremble, "But they disappeared when Sonic and Sally absorbed their energy and destroyed both Robotnik and his Doomsday Project!"

"Interesting," Eggman said, "And they're still empowered by these stones you mentioned?"

"It's hard to tell with Sonic," Snively confessed, "but the princess seems to still possess the speed that the Deep Power Stones gave her."

"I see," Eggman said with a smile, then he turned back towards the monitor as he continued, "I want you to prepare a special modification to my plans, Snively."

As Eggman chuckled, Snively asked, "What is it you're thinking, sir?"

"I'm thinking it's time for a tragic event from my world's history to be revisited on this world," Eggman revealed before going into a full and bone chilling laugh.

End of chapter.


End file.
